He was back to studying me, again.
“You need to stop thinking like that,” I said. “Each individual only thinking about themselves...it’s not helping. Winifred and Mary said your race is dying. Stop looking at your little groups as isolated families and start seeing the big picture. You all need to work together to find a way to survive. If you want to survive.”
His expression never changed while I spoke. I wanted to shake him to see if he was still alive, and maybe, because he frustrated me a bit.
“Don’t you see?” I said with exasperation. “It’s not you who will suffer the most, but the generations after you, if you don’t change your ways.” He still gave no indication he understood me. I turned back to the table. “I need to get something ready for Ann to eat.”
“Whether you know it or not, you were meant to come here,” Thomas said. “We won’t change on our own. But maybe you will change us.”
He walked away before I could glanced back at him.
Nine
I wiped sweat from my face and gave the rice on the fire another stir. One of the men had brought in a pheasant that now roasted beside the pot for a late lunch. Behind me, I listened to the water boil on the new stove. Thomas and Gregory had finished installing the stovepipe well before Ann and Leif had returned to the kitchen with Mary. The couple had taken one of the first floor rooms, unconcerned about the broken window.
Ann had also gratefully accepted a change of clean clothes and now waited at the table while her husband—no, Mate—worked to fill the tub for her. With the new stove, it wouldn’t take as long to fill the tub. But, man, the room heated quickly.
Needing to escape the heat, and because I had little left to do inside, I went out to check on the progress of the men.
Four long rows of split wood were stacked shoulder high. Not my shoulder, but the height of the men doing the stacking. The two clothing tables were empty, and on the ground lay the heap of rejected items.
I grabbed an armful of clothing to carry back inside. Though none of it was good for wearing, it could be useful for other things. I placed my armful just inside the door, and when I turned, I almost screamed. Three men were right behind me, carrying the rest.
“Thank you,” I said as they dropped their bundles.
They nodded and left, and I found the absence of their previous aggression and intensity pleasantly surprising. I went back outside and walked around, studying the rest of the progress. Several of the wooden chairs, now repaired and painted, caught my eye.
“Can we carry the two empty tables and these chairs into the main room? Maybe we should set them off to the side a bit for when you want to come in and eat or just sit for a while.” Two of the men nodded and went to the tables.
I wandered over to the table that had the scrap pieces of metal. I still had no idea what we would do with it.
“Winifred said there are places by her that will pay for metal,” Mary said coming up behind me. “When she leaves again, she’ll take this with her and use the money to buy more supplies.”
“There’s nothing like that around here?”
“There are a few places, but she said we’d look suspicious carrying all this heavy stuff there since we don’t have a truck. Too, this way, she can spread out where she goes so no one wonders where she gets the metal from. We plan to go back often,” Mary said.
“Then we should have a designated area for metal. Let’s stack all metal for recycling by the driveway and away from the house. If anyone goes out and finds anything to add to it, they can just toss it there.”
Men immediately started moving the pieces, and it occurred to me that Winifred was right. As wolves, they were surviving in the wild. But as people, they were lacking any purpose. These small tasks gave them purpose; and based on their expressions, they liked it.
“Does anyone think we can build our own ladder? Something tall enough to reach the high windows so we can start boarding them up?”
No one answered; however, several men walked into the trees. I wondered what kind of ladder they’d make.
I turned toward Mary.
“We need more dishes. Bowls and spoons first. If we work together, we should eat together.”
“We should.” She grinned at me then looked out at the men. “The rabbit stew will be done in a few hours. Bring a bowl and spoon if you want to eat. And no stealing.”
Several nodded. Those who were already busy kept working. Those still idling around the yard disappeared.
From the trees, a thunderous crash echoed into the clearing, and I jumped a little.
“Just the ladder,” Thomas said from beside me.
I jumped again.
“Where did you come from?”